so it wasn't, as it turns out, the throwout bearing in the clutch. it looks like it is the input shaft bearing in the transmission. so regardless of whether i have a working car in the end, we will be paying for the labor they already put out to deal with the clutch. then, if it's not completely unreasonable, there is the cost of fixing the transmission. which, by the way, he says has had the wrong fluid in it all this time. which may have caused this bearing to go bad. so for two years now (3?) i've been merrily driving around a car that was already doomed to have its input shaft bearing go bad because of long-term poison.

hey, and if not that, we pay a bunch of money to junk the car and go through the horrifying bureaucratic nightmare of buying a new or new used car.

jack is being way more supportive than anyone ever could be.

i just wanted to let the poor little thing see its dream of crossing the 100K mile mark.

as much as i talk about wanting a new this or a new that, i love my car. i don't want to buy a new car. please please please let the input shaft bearing thing be the least expensive part of a transmission to replace so i can just go on with my life.

That seriously sucks, is what I'm trying to say. I got to this point (or nearly there) with the Corolla, but it was 12 years old & well over the 100k mark. I agree, it's still worth trying to save if for no other reason than buying a new car being so damned frustrating.

An input shaft bearing is not that expensive in itself... it's like 20-50 bucks (depending on the make of your car)... they'll probably need some new seals, and they might also need to replace the pan and, obviously, the fluid; those kinds of things could run you another 60-100. The labor is going to be the most expensive part, as a transmission is a pain in the ass to work on. But, I wouldn't expect that you'd pay more than 300 for the whole deal.

Yeah... I understand the worrying. You hear "transmission" and you automatically think "expensive." I was thinking the same thing, until I got down to the phrase "input shaft bearing"... then I knew it'd be okay (but I'm a freak, who knows these things). Of course, I predicted high, just in case... driving around that long without transmission fluid can do some damage... I'd say you guys are pretty lucky! So, right-on! :-)

Well, yay for me for not having faith in mechanics pricing fairly (though, honestly, your price was proabably average... it's just the way of things); and yay for you, cause it could've been a whole lot worse. ;-)